Fall
by screamsevi
Summary: Oneshot. Lysander wants to marry Lucy, but he wants to talk to Molly first. How does this conversation change her life?


Fall

"Heart beats fast/colors and promises/how to be brave/how can I love when I'm afraid/to fall but watching you stand alone/all of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow"  
-_A Thousand Years_, Christina Perri

Molly Weasley was afraid to fall in love.

Not because she was afraid of men, by the way, but because she was terrified of giving her heart over so completely to any one person. She had a hard enough time being herself around her family; how could she possibly be expected to open up to a man? Why, her heart would probably burst out of her chest and run off at the very notion of love. No, sex she could understand. Friendship, she got. But love? What was the point? Why open up?

When Lysander pulled her away on March 31st, 2024, however, she was given an answer.

"I'm frightened," he said as he slowly began to pace back and forth across the floor of her flat. "I'm nervous, and terrified, and... Molly, I need your advice."

She raised an eyebrow. "Intrigue," she said as she titled her head to the side. Her long hair slipped down off of her shoulders. She was looking forward to the answer of this mystery. "What about?"

"I want to propose to your sister."

Whatever Molly may have been expecting, that wasn't it. "What?" she said, her hand grabbing at her heart. "What?"

"Your sister," Lysander said as he lowered his voice. "I said I wanted-"

"I know," she said, holding up both of her hands. "I... I heard. You just caught me off guard." She paused as she let the implication behind his words wash over her. _Propose? Is he serious?_ All she said, though, was, "Why'd you come to me?"

"I wanted... Do you know... Do you think she'll say-"

Again, Molly held up both of her hands to stop him. "You're asking if I think she'll accept?"

"Well... yes-"

"Why don't you just wait twenty minutes and ask her yourself?" The blank look he gave her made Molly sigh and explain, "Ly, you do know that she sometimes stops by here after dinner unannounced. Right?"

His eyes went wide as he glanced around, suddenly panicked. "You mean she might-"

"Pop in? Yes."

In an instant - before she could so much as blink - Lysander grabbed her arm, twisted around, and apparated them away. Molly stumbled as she landed. "That was so dramatic-" She cut herself off as she looked around. She'd been startled and irritated when he'd apparated them both without any warning, but her irritation turned to anger when she recognized where she was. "The Forbidden Forest? _Really_?"

"Lucy's afraid of the forest," Lysander muttered as he took ahold of his wand. He looked wearily into the shadows. "She won't come here. She won't overhear that I want to propose-"

"Which would be a problem _how_?" Molly asked as she threw her hands up. "Generally, when one proposes, they have to actually _tell_ the other person-"

"I'm only going to ask if she'll say yes," Lysander said. He looked at her, then, and Molly was startled to see a mixture of excitement, wonder, and fear in his eyes. He looked happy and filled with angst all at once, and she couldn't seem to figure out why. _Does this really mean that much to him?_ Molly wondered. _Is that love?_ "Will she? Say yes?"

"I don't... I don't know," Molly stuttered. Her words were honest, and she hated to see how they seemed to make Lysander fold in on himself. "Really, Ly. I don't know."

"That's... not what I wanted to hear."

"She's only twenty-one," Molly spoke up. Watching him, so in love and afraid, Molly couldn't help but hurt due to his discomfort and want to help him. She laid a hand on his arm. "She might be too young."

"But you don't know that for sure, do you?" he asked as he ran a hand through his messy hair. "You don't... I mean, she hasn't said anything, has she?"

"No." _He's afraid, but brave_, Molly thought as she watched his face relax a bit. _He's willing to let go and fall in love_. "I do know she loves you."

He sucked in air, an expression of hope melting onto his face. "Then I'll ask. I'll ask and pray she says yes."

"You really want to marry my sister?"

"I love her," he said. For the first time all night, there was a strength and conviction behind his words that made Molly's breath freeze in her chest, and finally, finally, she understood. "She's my princess, my gleaming star, and I love her. I won't live my life without her, if I have any say."

_True love,_ Molly mused silently. _That's what that is. Must be nice. I suppose I could have that one day, but... how can I love when I'm afraid to_ fall _in love?_ "Good for you," she said softly. _Maybe love is a good thing after all._

"Thank you," Lysander said, "for talking with me. I'm sorry for kidnapping you."

_Watching Lysander, I can't help but reevaluated the idea of love_. "No problem." _My doubt's gone away, somehow._ "You know I'm here for you."

Lysander smiled and grabbed the crook of her elbow. "And I you. After all, you might be my sister-in-law soon enough."

An expanding family. Molly smiled to herself. Well, perhaps that was another perk of love she hadn't considered.

With a _crack_, Lysander apparated them back to Molly's flat.


End file.
